Soluble carbohydrate content of shoots of Arctic wetland plants that are consumed by lesser snow geese
| dc.contributor.author | Jefferies, Robert L. | |
| dc.contributor.author | Edwards, Kate A. | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2012-11-11T08:12:32Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2012-11-11T08:12:32Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2008 | |
| dc.description.abstract | We recorded seasonal changes in the total amounts of soluble carbohydrates in shoots of salt- and fresh-water coastal plants at La Pérouse Bay, northern Manitoba, to determine whether adult snow geese and their goslings selected forage rich in soluble carbohydrates during the breeding season. The selection of forage plants in spring and summer by adults and goslings was strongly linked to the presence of high amounts of soluble carbohydrates in tissues: on the order of 100 mgg–1 dry mass. When the content fell as a result of shoot development or leaf senescence, the geese switched to alternative sources of forage. The extent to which individual shoots rich in soluble carbohydrates of the primary freshwater forage species are grazed depends on the local density of breeding geese at the study site, which has fallen in the last decade as a result of the earlier destruction of much of the coastal vegetation by foraging geese. | en_US |
| dc.description.abstract | Afin de déterminer si les oies des neiges adultes et leurs oisons sélectionnent un fourrage riche en glucides solubles au cours de la saison de reproduction, les auteurs ont enregistré les fluctuations saisonnie`res des quantités totales de glucides solubles dans les tiges de plantes coˆtie`res d’eau douce et d’eau salée. La sélection des plantes alimentaires au printemps et a` l’été par les adultes et les oisons montre une forte relation avec la présence de grandes quantités de glucides solubles dans les tissus, de l’ordre de 100 mgg–1 en poids sec. Lorsque la teneur diminue suite a` la maturation de la tige ou de la sénescence des feuilles, les oies passent a` une source alternative de fourrage. Le degré d’utilisation d’espe`ces de fourrage primaire d’eau douce dont les individus sont riches en glucides solubles dépend de la densité locale d’oies en reproduction sur le site étudié, laquelle a diminué au cours de la dernie`re décennie comme conséquence d’une destruction haˆtive d’une forte proportion de la végétation coˆtie`re par le broutage des oies. | en_US |
| dc.identifier.citation | Botany (2008) 86: 995-1001 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10315/18745 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | en |
| dc.publisher | NRC Research Press | |
| dc.rights.article | http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/B08-051?journalCode=cjb | |
| dc.rights.journal | http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/journal/cjb | en_US |
| dc.rights.publisher | http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/ | |
| dc.rights.uri | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ca/ | * |
| dc.subject | Arctic salt-water marshes | |
| dc.subject | Arctic fresh-water marshes | |
| dc.subject | Hudson Bay coast | |
| dc.subject | Hudson Bay | |
| dc.subject | pre- and post-hatch feeding | |
| dc.subject | graminoid forage species | |
| dc.subject | herbaceous forage species | |
| dc.title | Soluble carbohydrate content of shoots of Arctic wetland plants that are consumed by lesser snow geese | |
| dc.type | Article |